(a) An officer, employee, or agent of a state or local agency or department thereof, may obtain financial records under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 7470 pursuant to an administrative subpoena or summons otherwise authorized by law and served upon the financial institution only if:
(1) The person issuing such administrative summons or subpoena has served a copy of the subpoena or summons on the customer pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 413.10) of Title 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which copy may be served by an employee of the state or local agency or department thereof; and
(2) The subpoena or summons includes the name of the agency or department in whose name the subpoena or summons is issued and the statutory purpose for which the information is to be obtained; and
(3) Ten days after service pass without the customer giving notice to the financial institution that the customer has moved to quash the subpoena.
(b) (1) In issuing an administrative subpoena or summons pursuant to subdivision (a), the Attorney General or the Commissioner of Business Oversight pursuant to the enforcement of statutes within his or her jurisdiction, or the district attorney of any county in connection with investigations of violations of antitrust law as authorized by Section 16759 of the Business and Professions Code, may petition a court of competent jurisdiction in the county in which the records are located, and the court, upon a showing of a reasonable inference that a law subject to the jurisdiction of the petitioning agency has been or is about to be violated, may order that service upon the customer pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) and the 10-day period provided for in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) be waived or shortened. For the purpose of this subdivision, an “inference” is a deduction that may reasonably be drawn by the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Business Oversight, or the district attorney from facts relevant to the investigation.
(2) Such petition may be presented to the court in person or by telephoned oral statement which shall be recorded and transcribed. In the case of telephonic petition, the recording of the sworn oral statement and the transcribed statement shall be certified by the magistrate receiving it and shall be filed with the clerk of the court.
(3) Where the court grants such petition, the court shall order the petitioning agency to notify the customer in writing of the examination of records within a period to be determined by the court but not to exceed 60 days of the agency’s receipt of any of the customer’s financial records. The notice shall specify the information otherwise required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), and shall also specify the financial records which were examined pursuant to the administrative subpoena or summons. Upon renewed petition, the time of notification may be extended for an additional 30-day period upon good cause to believe that such notification would impede the investigation. Thereafter, by application to a court upon a showing of extreme necessity for continued withholding of notification, such notification requirements may be extended for three additional 30-day periods.
(4) The Attorney General shall not provide financial records obtained pursuant to the procedure authorized in this subdivision to a local law enforcement agency unless (i) that agency has independently obtained authorization to receive such financial records pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, or (ii) he or she obtains such records in an investigation conducted wholly independently of the local agency and not at its instigation or request.
(c) Except as provided in this subdivision, nothing in this chapter shall preclude a financial institution from notifying a customer of the receipt of an administrative summons or subpoena. A court may order a financial institution to withhold notification to a customer of the receipt of an administrative summons or subpoena when the court issues an order pursuant to subdivision (b) and makes a finding that notice to the customer by the financial institution would impede the investigation.
(d) If a customer files a motion to quash an administrative subpoena or summons issued pursuant to subdivision (a), such proceedings shall be afforded priority on the court calendar and the matter shall be heard within 10 days from the filing of the motion to quash.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 401, Sec. 37. (AB 2763) Effective January 1, 2015.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018